I love love love it because of the line'You may call me RJ, you may call me Ray'They're my initials, and so this song is my only claim to fame!(Actually it's not really one of my favourites - I reckon it's one of the weakest songs on the album, and never really does much for me in concert either. What a killjoy I am.)

It's a got a groove that's hard to get away from. Pretty catchy, with a good atmosphere. It's also quite possibly the only Dylan recording where the backup singers actually help the song. I can't say a whole lot for the lyrics, but off-handed simplicity isn't a bad thing, and I think it's fine here. Thematically I actually like it. We do all have to "serve somebody," meaning we need to look beyond ourselves, and also choose wisely what moral, philosophical and ideological tenants we adhere to. This is the beginning of Dylan's long period of choosing production styles that don't fit his voice or aesthetic, but I can dig the song on its own terms.

Dylan :takes chances and is song and dance manrock 'n' roll addictwomen and drugsbusinesmanDoctor (of Music, Princeton, Honorary) Chiefthiefwas Young Turk (figuratively, and kinda literally from his father's side)was poor is rich (started off sleeping on people's floors, ended up in a big brass bed)lives under another namelived in a mansion with an infamous dome(in the very moment he sings this) preacher with spiritual prideheir (to all sorts of traditions)liked whiskey

I know for certain that in 1981, Bob and Co. professionally recorded this show but it's never surfaced. That said, this incredible concert has always circulated in high quality but my point in that is that I reallythink this would be a perfect candidate for a Bootleg Series entry.Interspersing his older material with brilliantly solid selections from his three Gospel albums, it would be a perfectre-assessment of this underrated period.

Just listen to this fiery deliverance of this song which opened the concert!! Bob is on fire here and the band is super tight with the Queens just tearing it up!!!It's a brilliant opening to a powerhouse evening that may be my favorite of that phenomenal year....

I first heard it as a track on Biograph, and it made an impression on then, when a friend had me listen specifically to this song At that point in time, I probably knew Bob best based on 60s Dylan, BOTT, and "Jokerman" (and that's it). It sounded different musically (as I remember), and I kind of dug it, but it did not make me want to get the Slow Train LP (which I own now for the sake of completism). Of the Christian period songs, "Every Grain of Sand" is my favorite, and I consider "Slow Train" a song that I can tolerate when I must.

I know for certain that in 1981, Bob and Co. professionally recorded this show but it's never surfaced. That said, this incredible concert has always circulated in high quality but my point in that is that I reallythink this would be a perfect candidate for a Bootleg Series entry.Interspersing his older material with brilliantly solid selections from his three Gospel albums, it would be a perfectre-assessment of this underrated period.

Just listen to this fiery deliverance of this song which opened the concert!! Bob is on fire here and the band is super tight with the Queens just tearing it up!!!It's a brilliant opening to a powerhouse evening that may be my favorite of that phenomenal year....

Thanks for sharing that. Loved it. Not sure if this was common in his live performances at the time, but I think it's really interesting that he dropped "hafta" from the chorus. Rather than an air of forced subservience, it now strikes me as a more basic statement about how things are. Every action, every choice serves a specific end that you desire. To live and act at all is to take steps in one direction or another. It's up to us to choose whether that is towards love, or hate, good or evil, and the labels that we apply to ourselves or that are applied to us by others, have nothing to do with it.

Joined: Mon April 6th, 2009, 20:28 GMTPosts: 1040Location: I was there for a party once

marker wrote:

I know for certain that in 1981, Bob and Co. professionally recorded this show but it's never surfaced. That said, this incredible concert has always circulated in high quality but my point in that is that I reallythink this would be a perfect candidate for a Bootleg Series entry.Interspersing his older material with brilliantly solid selections from his three Gospel albums, it would be a perfectre-assessment of this underrated period.

Just listen to this fiery deliverance of this song which opened the concert!! Bob is on fire here and the band is super tight with the Queens just tearing it up!!!It's a brilliant opening to a powerhouse evening that may be my favorite of that phenomenal year....

[quote="harmonica albert"] The self-reference of the "you may call me zimmy" verse is insufferable.

Why would that bother you? He's just joking around, having a little fun with it.

It is a tad narcissistic.[/quote]

Ha! This was a play on a popular beer commercial back then. But I guess I'm dating myself.

As time goes by these kind of inside jokes can tend to get lost. Hopefully though knowing the source will give a new appreciation-- or else ruin it altogether! I thought it was genius to be able to include this oddball popular reference into this hellfire preaching song.

To live and act at all is to take steps in one direction or another. It's up to us to choose whether that is towards love, or hate, good or evil, and the labels that we apply to ourselves or that are applied to us by others, have nothing to do with it.

I've loved this version from 1988.It's a weird arrangement, sped up with a bit of a disco beat, but bob oh boy,does it allow Bob & GE to rip it up!! GE is just on fire here!!! His solos are so inventiveand interesting...And Bob just makes up lyrics on the spot some being pretty good:

Might be richMight be poor Might be dragging somebody's door

Might be in Israel Might be RomeMight be ParisMight be home

You maybe hazyYou may behaveYou may be a master or you maybe a slave

An amazing breakdown ending happens which Im always a sucker for,but yeah this is a cool rendition of GSS!!

Here's a piece of this song from Hamilton Ontario, the last Gotta Serve from 88.So great to watch GE in the flesh do his thing...It's also great to see that brief era where it was just Bob, GE, and Chris Parkerhuddled in one corner of the stage as a trio Crazy Horse-style:)

This is the period of Dylan's career that turns all my preconceptions upside down.

The reason for that is that the thing that always attracted me to Dylan was the power of the lyrics in his songs. As an atheist, the lyrics from this period should make me hate it. They are dogmatic, simplistic and sometimes cringing.

And Yet.... And yet.....I love it.

The power and passion of the singing, the absolute conviction, and not to mention some beautiful melodies, make this one of my favourite periods in his career

This is the period of Dylan's career that turns all my preconceptions upside down.

The reason for that is that the thing that always attracted me to Dylan was the power of the lyrics in his songs. As an atheist, the lyrics from this period should make me hate it. They are dogmatic, simplistic and sometimes cringing.

And Yet.... And yet.....I love it.

The power and passion of the singing, the absolute conviction, and not to mention some beautiful melodies, make this one of my favourite periods in his career

It's a pleasure to encounter an atheist who is also a genuine freethinker.

Bob did this song only twice in 2002. I've never heard the second rendition but this one is one of the best I've ever heard....I love the arrangement here. The drawn out chorus only highlights how great Bob sounded in 02 and how bad-ass this song is....The band truly rocks out here and the recording is in excellent sound.What more could a Dylan bootlegger ask for??:)

I know for certain that in 1981, Bob and Co. professionally recorded this show but it's never surfaced. That said, this incredible concert has always circulated in high quality but my point in that is that I reallythink this would be a perfect candidate for a Bootleg Series entry.Interspersing his older material with brilliantly solid selections from his three Gospel albums, it would be a perfectre-assessment of this underrated period.

Just listen to this fiery deliverance of this song which opened the concert!! Bob is on fire here and the band is super tight with the Queens just tearing it up!!!It's a brilliant opening to a powerhouse evening that may be my favorite of that phenomenal year....

Not a fan of this period, Dylan's haranguing and self-pitying gospel-rock recordings aren't my idea of good rock or religious music, and his singing sounds awful on many of these performances.

But I do treasure the early live versions of "Pressing On" from late 1979, the live "Caribbean Wind," the live "Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" with Michael Bloomfield, and the Grammy performance of this song.

Of the studio recordings from this period, "Every Grain of Sand" and this song are the only ones I enjoy. (Mark Knopfler's great guitar work very nearly salvages Slow Train Coming for me, but this track would have been pretty good even without him.)

"It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody"

The more I have listened to this song over the years, the more interesting I've found it. It's not a gospel song in the conventional sense, because it is ambivalent in tone,ie it does not specifically advocate serving the Lord. It's rather a statement of fact regarding both supernatural persons, and if you're not serving one, you are by definition, serving the other. The prophet Elijah used the same approach when confronting the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel (OT; 1 Kings).

Just stumbled across the same thing and looked up the thread to post it. I know it's a grammy show and all, but he's kind of tearing it up here, ain't he? Stereo sound and good quality vid of nice BOB FACES as well.

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